Top 20 Soccer365 Stories of 2016

Soccer365 had a busy year in 2016. We returned to our roots and our original name, Soccer365, while continuing to cover the all the news on jersey and cleat releases along with stories on the fashion of soccer. Let’s take a moment before ringing in the New Year to look back at a special 2015.

20. 2015/16 Premier League Jersey sponsors – Do you know the sponsor of your favorite soccer club? Surprisingly, despite watching hours and hours of live matches most fans came up short when asked that question. So it is no surprise that many of them turned to our guide on the 2015/16 jersey sponsors of Premier League teams.

19. Nike Reveal CR7 Chapter 2 Natural Diamond – 2015 ended on a high for Cristiano Ronaldo winning the 2016 Ballon d’Or. The year started fast for the Real Madrid and Portugal winger with Nike releasing a limited edition collection of the Nike Mercurial with the second drop (Chapter 2) turning heads.

18. Nike Celebrates Ronaldo with Quinhentos cleats – Ronaldo was just keeping pace as the release of his Nike Quinhentos and 324K cleats in the fall of 2015 kept its momentum into the New Year. The cleats were released to celebrate Ronaldo setting the Real Madrid goal scoring record with his 324th goal and his career 500th goal.

17. adidas Unveil Glitch 16 with Interchangeable upper and soleplate – A soccer cleat with interchangeable upper and sole plate has been done before (remember the adidas Tunit?) but the 3-Stripes continues to work on improving the design. The cleat was not available to the public but select players were asked to test them out and adidas of course had some pictures to share with us as well. Here’s hoping we can get our hands on a pair in 2017.

16. Nike Drops Metal Flash Pack – The Nike Metal Flash pack was the first launch of the year from the Swoosh and grabbed the attention of cleat fans with the flash colors and metallic swoosh.

15. Nike Reveal Anti-Clogging Sole Plates – Hate clapping your cleats together to dislodge the mud, grass, and grit after games on muddy fields? That could be a thing of the past after Nike unveiled their Anti-Clogging Sole Plates at the Nike Innovations Lab event in New York City in March.

14. Behind the Scenes Nike’s Vanhook Discusses NJR – Michael Jordan is an icon for his play on the court as well as his famous shoe brand. So it was no surprise when it was announced he was teaming up with Neymar Jr to develop the first co-branded Jordan, the NJR x Jordan Collection. Soccer365 had a chance to sit down with Nike’s Senior Footwear Design Director, Nathan VanHook, about the inspiration behind the cleat.

13. Paul Pogba Joins adidas – Despite his young age, Paul Pogba, is one of the best midfielders in the world which makes it surprising that France international and Manchester United player had never signed a cleat sponsorship contract until March of this year. Pogba announced he was signing with adidas and they in turn created his own colorway of the Ace 16+ PureControl cleats.

12. Nike Men’s and Women’s Radiant Reveal Pack unveiled – To celebrate the start of spring and longer days, Nike took the opportunity to unveil a cleat pack with appropriate spring colors for both their men’s and women’s cleat silos. It was the third Nike release of their women’s cleats.

11. Nike Reveals the ‘Ousadia Alegria’ Neymar Hypervenom Cleats – Nike gave Neymar his own colorway to open the year when they teamed up with Brazilian artist Bruno Big to bring Neymar’s motto ‘Ousadia e Alegria’ (‘Courage and Joy’) to life on his cleats. The phrase is seen in his play and this design took that a step farther.

10. Limited Edition Nike Camo Pack – Did you see that? You may have missed something if you were not looking closely when Nike unveiled the Camo Pack in March. The cleats used 4 well-known camouflage patterns to help stand-out players stay hidden on the field.

9. Classic Soccer Quotes – Johann Cruyff, who sadly passed away in 2016, once said ‘Soccer is simple, but it is difficult to play simple’ and it is just one of many famous quotes from over the decades about the beautiful game.

8. Green Card Makes Serie B debut – Italy’s second division, Serie B, announced at the start of the year that they would add a green card to the familiar red and yellow cards in the referee’s book. The card was to be shown to a player exhibiting good sportsmanship. The first was shown to Vicenza striker Cristian Galano who admitted that the corner kick the referee awarded should have been a goal kick.

7. adidas Messi 10/10 Limited Edition boot – adidas grabbed the attention with their own superstar, Lionel Messi, in October. The 3-Stripes unveiled a limited edition of only 100 pairs all in Messi’s size 8.5 that was gone in a flash. World Soccer Shop had a limited number of pairs and had folks lining up for the opportunity to purchase.

6. Short History of the soccer cleat – Did you know that King Henry VIII ordered a pair of soccer boots for the Great Wardrobe in 1526? This is just one interesting fact of the story of the soccer cleat from a working class boot with spikes to the neon colored lightweight cleats of today.

5. adidas laceless ace 16 GTI revealed – A laceless soccer cleat? Get real. We kid you not and adidas unveiled their laceless technology at the end of 2015 with the Ace 16+ GTI and the buzz continued into the new year and continues to be a driving force on the field.

4. adidas Drop Laceless Ace 16 Purecontrol – So it only makes sense that the first laceless cleat colorway available for retail was a big hit among readers. The chance to lace it up (or not) with the likes of Mesut Ozil, James Rodriguez, Oscar and other top players was too hard to resist.

3. adidas purecontrol Ultraboost Contest – It is hard to beat free so it should be no surprise that 2 of the most popular stories involved World Soccer Shop give-away promotions. The first on the list comes in at #3 with a chance to win the limited edition adidas Stellar Pack Ace 16+ Purecontrol UltraBoost. A stylish shoe for off the field.

2. Story and Superstitions behind player jersey numbers – A player’s jersey is not complete until they have a number and not all players stick to the standard 1-11 numbering system familiar in the 1960’s and 70’s. A number 121? Whose into 69? Adding it up, did someone wear 1+8 because they wanted but could not get #9? These and more interesting numbers.

1. FIFA 17 xBox give away – EA Sports FIFA franchise is one of the most popular games. It is so popular that clubs are starting to sign professional players. World Soccer Shop ran a promotion to give-away a FIFA 17 xBox and as expected readers were grabbing it up and signing up for the chance to win.

With 2016 in the books, Soccer365 is looking forward to 2017. What will be the big release jersey and cleat? Who will make a big splash by signing/extending a partnership? What promotions will our partner, World Soccer Shop, host this year? In addition to a new line-up of Soccer365 ‘Guides’ and more.